Republicans brace as Trump circus comes to Washington D.C.

Donald Trump is rolling into Washington, D.C. Thursday for a series of meetings with congressional Republicans, who are as divided as the rest of the GOP over whether to embrace or reject their presumptive nominee.

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The meetings come after House Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) declaration last week that he "wasn't ready" to back Trump — and recriminations from the bellicose billionaire, who took to Twitter to attack Ryan in response.

But as the two prepare for the meeting, both are ratcheting down their rhetoric and hinting that though they may not agree on everything, they're hoping to be able to work together.

Donald Trump will be arriving in Washington D.C. on Thursday for a series of meetings with congressional Republicans. (Mary Altaffer/AP)

"This election's too important to go into an election at half strength. That means we need a real unification of our party, which look, after a tough primary, is going to take some effort," Ryan said at a Wednesday morning press conference.

"We are committed to putting that effort in. I want to be a part of that unifying process so that we're at full strength this fall so that we can win this election. We cannot afford to lose this election to Hillary Clinton, to pack the Supreme Court, to keep the liberal Obama agenda going. We have to be at full strength so that we can win this election and that is why we have to go through the actual effort and process of unifying,' he continued.

After a few days of hostile comments, Trump is looking to play nice as well, saying he likes Ryan and wants him to stay on as chairman of the Republican National Convention.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that the Republican party needs to unite in order to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House. (YURI GRIPAS/REUTERS)

"He is a very good man, he wants what's good for the party," he said Tuesday night on Fox News. "And I think we're going to have very positive results. I'd love frankly for him to stay and be chairman."

But that doesn't mean everything's hunky dory after a week of back-and-forth between Trump and many GOP leaders. A sign of how divided the party remains: Ryan made his comments while standing next to Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.), who's facing a tough reelection and has sworn to never back Trump. Dold was there to tout a bill focused on the opioid drug crisis.